Monthly Archives: February 2013

February 27, 2013 · 7:35 pm

No Sweets, No Wheats: Today Is Day 1 (Well actually, Day 3)

For four weeks I will be gluten and sweet free.

Not sugar free, “sweet” free.
No honey, no sugar, no agave nectar, no artificial sweeteners, no sweet additive whatsoever.
Why am I doing this, you may ask? The long and the short is this:
  1. Monetary Prize and 
  2. Getting all sexy for the company retreat to Hawaii!
Oh, and I guess being kinder to my body isn’t a bad reason either.
In preparation for these next four weeks I had already started weening myself off of sugar – I stopped adding it to my coffee, put the kibosh on soda pop, lowered the intake of donuts, you know, the usual. But what I didn’t expect was that “weening” and stopping cold turkey would have surprisingly dramatic effects.
This blog was actually due to come out a couple days ago (along with a few others that are sitting here in draft form) – but it didn’t because I was completely listless. It took all of my concentration to work yesterday and then the idea of doing anything beyond that was unthinkable. I had headaches and just didn’t feel like myself.

Now I’m feeling much better.

On the 24th, my last day for food freedom, I did indulge a bit much.

I had a muffuletta from New Orleans:

Photo by Deep Fried Kadzu
A cannoli, also from New Orleans:

Photo by CookieMadness.net

And some New Orleans King Cake:

I would have taken pictures of the actual items instead of finding these images on the internet, but I ate them all so fast I didn’t have the chance.

Between working out and cutting ALL sugar I’m hoping that the summer beach bod will be in full effect sooner than later.

I’ll update as it’s worth updating.

See you next time!

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Filed under challenge, food, getting fit

February 19, 2013 · 11:17 pm

What Do you Get When You Mix Ninjas and Kittens?

You get adorable battle!

See you next time!

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Filed under cats, internet, video

· 7:00 pm

The House of Cards… No, not that one. The other one.

I knew it. I knew I recognized it but I was enjoying it so much that it completely blinded me to the memory of the original.

House of Cards, the new Netflix original series that I have been so excited about for the last week (And it is phenomenal. Seriously, I think everyone should watch it.) Is based on the same source material as the fantastic, although slightly dated, House of Cards (called The House of Cards in the Netflix cue) that was released in the 80’s by the BBC.

Both are similar, main character breaking the 4th wall to speak with the audience, and have the same general plots, spurned House whip getting revenge on the people who wronged him, but the styles of the shows are significantly different and there is the fact that the original takes place in England while the Netflix series takes place in the United States.

Here’s some info on the BBC series, in case you’re curious – The House of Cards.

Clearly the Netflix series is based on this series, of which there were three seasons, but they each have their own charm and both worth watching in their own right. Also, the stories do diverge, especially considering the ending of the original series in the UK, which is always nice. I’d hate to have a road map to the entire new series already laid out – talk about spoilers!

I have finally finished the Netflix version and want to discuss it! Maybe a G+ hangout? Mention in the comments if that would be something you’re into.

So good!

See you next time!

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Filed under filmmaking, new shows, television

· 2:08 pm

You’re Welcome

I thought I could embed what I wanted you to see, but i can only link to it.

Follow the link.

FOLLOW IT!

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Filed under Goats

February 18, 2013 · 7:01 pm

Philip DeFranco Agrees About House of Cards

And he did a whole video about it.

Now I don’t know Mr. DeFranco, other than introducing myself to him at Sundace a few years ago, and I am not affiliated with his shows or channels in any way, but I do like his stuff which is how I found this in the first place.

Seriously, House of Cards. Watch it. We’ll discuss as soon as I finish the series.

See you next time.

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Filed under filmmaking, TV, videos, YouTube

· 2:42 pm

Seriously, House of Cards!

I cannot get enough of House of Cards, the new original series from Netflix. It’s their second foray into content and they have swung for the fences!

Starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and too many other great actors to name, this political drama is riveting and clever and I’m just enjoying the hell out of it. It doesn’t hurt that David Fincher is also involved. Seriously look at this IMDb page!

What really excites me the most, though, is that this is extremely high quality content created by, what is essentially an internet entertainment company. I know Netflix is now fairly ubiquitous, I was the last person I know to get a Netflix subscription except for my parents, but when it’s all boiled down you can’t have Netflix without an internet connection. That fact that they could back this kind of production is really quite a step up from Harlem Shake videos or standard webseries. I’m very excited to see what they come up with next.

Here’s a trailer, now go watch it yourself!

See you next time!

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Filed under filmmaking, television, the future, videos

February 15, 2013 · 5:02 pm

Valentine’s Day

I suppose, since it is officially Valentine’s Day, that I should do a post that is day appropriate, but when it comes down to it I don’t know that I have very much too say about it. There’s always the trusty Wikipedia page, but that’s hardly romantic.

What I keep coming back to, as I stare blankly at the plain white screen in front of me, is that I’m very happy to have my valentine, Rene Bordelon. Our story is long and varied. We used to date way back when in the late 90’s. We both worked for Disneyland and, long story short, the first time around ended badly.

Really badly.

Like, I-don’t-think-we’ll-ever-speak-again badly.

And a lot of time passed. A good seven or eight years.

Then MySpace was a thing. Do you remember MySpace? Here’s my old Myspace page. I’m shocked it’s still up.

Inspired by her friend, Rene reached out because she discovered this Jonathan Coulton song about Zombies:

She remembered I liked zombies and wanted to show it to me.

I liked the song.

We started talking again – but we were just going to be friends! We hadn’t forgotten how the last time ended so we were determined not to go down that road again!

That didn’t last long.

Soon we were dating.

Now look at us!

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I like to think that our story can provide a little hope for those feeling down about Single Awareness Day. If the two of us, who never ever thought we’d get back together could find each other again then there has to be some hope out there.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

See you next time!

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Filed under love, rambling, rene

February 13, 2013 · 11:00 pm

Wreck-It Ralph in 60 seconds

This is SO cool!

I think I’m going to have to go check out all of the 60 second versions in the Virgin Radio Fake Movie Festival! Between this and the Evil Dead Remake I’m completely sold!

See you next time!

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Filed under film festivals, filmmaking, making movies, movies, videos

· 9:00 pm

Speaking of Music, Here’s A Story About A Dace Party.

From Wired.com

So I talk about music today and then Kickstarter.com posts a story on Facebook.com about a story on Wired.com all about a couple of guys who bring a dance party to cities around Canada and the U.S. Kickstarter called it “…the best thing you’ll read on the Internet today”  I’m not sure about that, but it’s a good article about a fun thing.

Decentralized Dance Party

See you next time!

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Filed under music, re-post

· 7:00 pm

General Ramblings On Music In General

I don’t much believe in regrets, but if there’s one thing that I wish I had spent more time on in my youth it would be music, specifically playing an instrument. Any instrument. I made a go at drumming, can wail on a kazoo and can even play a kids toy piano decently, but when it comes to actual could-be-part-of-a-rock-band instruments I have zero skill. I made up for my lack of playing ability by listening music as often as possible.

I got a good start. When I was a kid my parents listened to regular radio. Rock, pop, oldies, their music tastes were given to me unfiltered and I have always been grateful for that. I never quite understood the reasoning behind “kid’s music.” I don’t get it, especially when it’s pop music re-recorded by kids. And when I look back on my childhood now, growing up in the 80’s, when Michael Jackson, Prince and Bruce Springsteen were all coming up and making some of the best music of their careers!  If I had been listening to “the wheels on the bus” instead of “1999”… I don’t even want to think of it.

I’ve been consuming a lot more music lately. Technology has made it so that you can. Between Spotify and Pandora having streaming apps for mobile phones and the amount of time Rene and I spend in the car it’s been easy to do. I realize that I’m behind the curve on this. I can already hear some of you saying, “I’ve been using those for months/years!” but I’m a slow adopter. I had a Blackberry Bold for almost 3 years before I upgraded so when I finally cashed in all my credits on an iPhone I was shocked at what I could do with it.

Technology has also changed my storage habits. I haven’t opened iTunes for… a while. And because I haven’t bought any albums or iTunes music since I discovered Spotify it’s not like the newer songs I want to listen to are in there anyway. iTunes and my old iPod were reduced to only playing podcasts which, while good, aren’t always to the wife’s taste (I listen to some pretty geeky and/or “inside baseball” industry podcasts. That’s a different blog post.).

So what am I listening to now? Well, if I’m at the gym it’s all dance-pop. I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again, I’ve got a great Pandora station seeded with Kylie Minogue that keeps the cardio burning! But at home I’ve been regressing to college indie-rock stuff. Going back to R.E.M. and The Smiths and Nick Heyward. There are some newer songs out that have been triggering my nostalgia  but I’ll be damned if I can think of any of them specifically right now.

What about you? How does music factor into your life? what are you listening to? do you have a raging cardio playlist or suggestion to try out? Let me know in the comments!

See you next time!

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Filed under music, rambling